Their Persephone, Enigma
by tainted-angel21
Summary: Her name, Persephone Darling. She had no interest in the mangas and shows her best friend read and watched. So when she was dropped into Ciel Phantomhive's bed, what could she do but go along an adventure of a lifetime, literally? She became Ciel's new pawn and Sebastian's new toy. Then, she became something more. But in the end, she always remained theirs and only theirs.
1. Prologue

Hello Readers! So I had this idea for a long, long time and here it is. My OC and I exploring the Kuroshitsuji world.I hope you all like it. Please review and let me know what you all think about it. Happy Reading!

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji...**

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**Their Persephone, Enigma**

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**Prologue**

A loud screech and a bright flash of light encompassing the young earl's bedroom interrupted the daily dressing ritual of one Ciel Phantomhive by his ever dedicated butler Sebastian Michaelis. A frown on the handsome butler's forehead flashed for the merest of a second as he grabbed onto his young master and shielded him from what had apparently, crashed onto his young master's bed from thin air.

Both master and servant stared at what was a young woman, a girl really, moan incoherently into the earl's pillows. A disgusted snort was heard from the earl's direction at the sight of girl's tangled limbs in his bed sheets and her eagle sprawled form.

But the same could not be said for the butler in the room. What he was at the mysterious appearance of the new guest in the manor could be best described as fascinated. A day in the life of his young master was never boring to say the least.

"My my, young master! A mysterious woman in your bed. Would you two like some privacy?"

Came the silky deceptive voice of the maroon eyed butler, his eyes not leaving the threat in the room. As expected his master flushed angrily and before he could snap at the insolence of his butler, a soft female voice from the bed interrupted coldly, "No, but the injured and clearly victimized person in the room would much appreciate a hand. So, if you would be ever so kind as to giving me a hand?"

A wicked smirk covered the resident demon's lips as he stood up straight, slowly stalked towards her and responded smoothly, "Of course, Miss. Might I inquire about the nature of your dropping in?"

Before he could reach her side or offer her a hand, she raised herself on her elbows, lifting her previously buried head from the pillows and with a surprising amount of grace and speed she sat up in the earl's large bed.

Her mouth, lips full and a bright pink, quirked up in a smirk as she asked, her tone anything but warm, "Dropping in? Funny man, aren't you?"

She was staring at them, drinking them in, studying, calculating, assessing and Ciel had to admit he had never seen a girl with that much intelligence in their eyes before. Her sudden and peculiar entrance in his bedroom hadn't been the oddest thing he had seen in his short lifetime, especially since he had come to associating with the supernatural.

Both master and butler were looking all over her. Everything about her was odd. Ciel knew instantly that she was around his age, perhaps a little bit older but not by much. Long wild and shiny ebony locks flowed freely around her face and body, the sunlight from the window shone red in her hair. A beautiful and delicately carved pale face with those luscious full lips and cheeks flushed a pretty pink. But the most attractive feature on her face was her big emerald green eyes with those thick and long dark lashes shinning with brilliance. Her skin was all milk and cream and she was dressed most indecently, concluded Ciel silently.

What looked like a lavender tunic of some sort with a dipped neckline which showed a long lick of pale and soft skin and flesh from her long elegant neck down to her chest, which was impressively sized. She was not wearing a corset or much underneath and that was inappropriately obvious. But even without the corset, her tunic hugged her body snug and tight showing off her tiny waist. Her arms were all bare showing off her pale, thin and toned arms with slim, delicate and elegant hands.

Her legs swinging from the side of his bed, looked long and slim. She was wearing some sort of black trousers which hugged her legs like a second skin and ended into a pair of soft looking ankle length lavender boots. What was she, who was she and why was she there looking almost as indecent as Lau's little sister Ran-Mao.

It was the slightest bit unsettling for Ciel when he noticed Sebastian eyeing the disheveled girl on his bed, something menacing glittering in his maroon eyes. Ciel's voice was cold when he demanded, "Your name."

One of her dark brows hitched up as she fired back calmly, "Is mine to give and I will do so in a moment. First, I expect you to show the proper courtesy of giving me your names first. But since you two seem to be eyeing me like a poison spitting hag of a witch, simply tell me, are you Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis?"

A dark chuckle came from the demon butler which made the girl on the bed blink owlishly. She breathed sharply and swallowed hard and asked in a weak, almost strangled manner which seemed utterly uncharacteristic of her, "And you two aren't cosplaying?"

Ciel scowled fiercely at her. What was she mumbling about? He snapped at her, "What on earth is cosplaying? Do we look like we are playing games, Miss? You are the one who crashed onto my bed and in the privacy of my room and you dare ask us pointless questions?"

She gave him a sharp nod. Then, replied mechanically, "Yes. Apologies, Earl Phantomhive. I am Persephone Darling and from the looks of things, I am fucked. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Wouldn't want to offend your delicate sensibilities!"

A deep and dark chuckle came from the demon in the room. Ciel glared at her, her offensive language and her offensive implications. This Persephone Darling was an anomaly and it never was a good thing when a demon laughed looking utterly tickled.


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji...**

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**Their Persephone, Enigma**

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**Chapter One**

The girl, Persephone Darling, was injured. There were various shallow scratches on various parts of her body, a very slight bruise on her chin, a dark bruise on her left forearm. Nothing major and she was fine, assessed Ciel.

Ciel was sipping on his tea, his eyes sharply resting on the girl. Sebastian had offered her a cup, which she declined politely with a sweet smile, instead asked for a hair tie or a ribbon. Both males watched her, amazed and in slight awe as she put the ribbon in between her plump lips and started to run her hands and those thin elegant fingers through her silky dark locks, combing them and twisting them into a long tail and twisting it around and up behind her head. With a flourish and an expert speed she placed the ribbon from her mouth to her hair and twisted, knotted and did something blindly and successfully put her hair behind and up in a respectable style.

Ciel stayed neutral not betraying his awe. It was quite a sight to see a woman manage her hair, something about the way she handled her hair with her back arched up, he noted with the barest hint of a blush on his cheeks. It seemed like too intimate an act to watch, something that should be limited between lovers.

Sebastian on the other hand had no qualms about keeping his opinions to himself or turning a blind eye to the lady in question and her enigmatic little quirks. If anything every little thing about her intrigued him and piqued his curiosity. But a butler of the noble Phantomhive family would never pick and prod at a lady so obviously and especially in front of his young master.

So, he settled for a compliment in his silkiest voice and a look so intense it was sure to mesmerize her like it had done so on women so many times before, "That was most impressive, my lady. You look lovely with your hair up, if I may be so bold as to say."

She sighed and barely reacted to him and his looks. She told him matter-of-factly, "You may be nothing but bold because you already said it and you certainly didn't need my permission to say so. As for it being impressive, it really wasn't. Have you never seen a woman tie her hair up before or do women in this era really are that lazy, incompetent and helpless?"

There was a moment of pause where both master and butler took in each and every one of her word and went through rapid comprehensions in their minds while the lady watched them with waiting eyes. Ciel and Sebastian exchanged a look which made her smirk. They had caught onto her little clue.

Sebastian asked with a cheery but obviously a fake smile, "Forgive me, my lady, but did you say 'this era'?"

She let out a soft chuckle before she asked amusedly, "Ah, the hammer of knowledge hit the right spot, huh?"

Ciel frowned at her. She was as awful as Lau and as exasperating as Sebastian. Could she not answer anything straightly? He demanded sternly , "Answer the bloody question."

She tilted her head to the side and stared right into his eyes. Her eyes were too vibrant and the way she stared into his eyes unblinkingly was utterly unfeminine, it irked him to no end and made his face flush just a little. She gave him a smile just as fake as Sebastian's before answering, "Ignoring your lack of manners or hospitality, fine I shall answer. But bare with me, the answer might be a bit tricky and I am figuring it out as I go."

Her conceited attitude and her comments about him were getting on his very last nerve. A large vein on his forehead ticked as he scowled at her and gathered what little patience he had left and listened to her explanation. She leaned forward, her eyes looking straight out the window behind him and into nothing. Those green eyes of hers burned bright with knowledge, determination and what looked like some sort of pleasure at figuring out a puzzle. Ciel knew that look very well. The look of someone who enjoyed games and winning; it was the same look he saw on his own face when he looked into a mirror.

Her lips moved yet she remained utterly motionless and unblinking. Her voice soft and almost melodic, Ciel noticed her crisp and strange pronunciation. She was an American, no doubt about that. That explained some of her strange behavior. Everyone knew Americans were crazy. She told them, "When I said 'this era', I meant that I am not from the time you two are from. To be more specific, I am from a time far advanced than yours. I am from roughly about a hundred and thirty years ahead of your time."

There was a gasp and widened eyes from Ciel at that important and unbelievable piece of information. But Sebastian looked at her with a large smirk, one that looked befitting on the face of a demon, a psychotic smirk. She nodded once at Ciel and went back to staring out the window and explained further, "My clothing, appearance, behavior and speech should be proof enough for that. Now, just to say that I am from the future would not be specific or correct enough. You see, from where I am from, you two are fictional characters."

Ciel snorted and went to open his mouth for a serious rebuttal, but when he looked to his faithful butler, he immediately stopped short. The demon looked for the lack of a better word, enraptured as he stared at the lady in the room. He was hanging onto each and every one of her words.

Ciel considered for a moment. It was believable that she was from an advanced timeline. There was proof enough of that and it was also true that she appeared into his room unwillingly and by magical means. If that could be true, then it was also possible that she was not from his world, but a different world altogether where his world was merely tales in a book. Fictional, she said. He wanted to slap her for such insolence; how could a life like his be fictional? Could tragedies, horrors and twisted incidents like he lived through be made up by some bored individual's mind?

Still, the lady was not to be blamed. She was only figuring her situation out and giving them the truth of what she knew. How could he condemn her for stating the facts as they were, especially when he had asked for them? He would not do so, not yet. So he decided to remain silent and listen more of what she had to say. She was clever; he had to give her that. Just as he had predicted, there was brilliance in this woman. It was unusual to meet such a woman and he decided that it was a novelty he was going to enjoy for now.

She leaned back, dropped her eyes to the carpeted floor, tracing her eyes over the intricate designs of the carpet. Then, she lifted a hand to her face, her fingers resting on her chin as she traced her forefinger slowly and hypnotically across, under and over her plump and pink bottom lip.

It was inappropriate and very distracting, decided Ciel. He couldn't take his eyes of her lip and he was feeling very warm all of a sudden. He didn't like it, not one bit. He wanted to grab her hand and tell her to stop it and then give her a lecture about proper behavior from a young woman. But he resisted the urge. Why would he concern himself with a strange woman and her actions? He shook his head to drag his eyes away from her lip. Then he looked at her with distant eyes.

Tracing her lip, it was a habit, he concluded. She did it while she was lost in thought. She spoke, her finger still running softly and slowly under her lip, "Therefore, this world that I have, for the lack of a better term, magically dropped into is not my world. This is a different world than mine. I know a lot about you two and this world merely because of the fictional stories written about you."

She knew about them, did she? Now, that was not a good thing at all. Did she even know what sort of a danger she just placed herself into by admitting that to a demon and one of the most powerful and dangerous nobles in the country, wondered Sebastian. It sent a strange sort of buzz throughout his body. She was very exciting and unusual. What luck that she would end up before him and he had all the time in the world to decide what to do with her! For now, every little thing about her fascinated him. A human girl from a dimension in the future where he was a fictional character, how exhilarating.

It seemed like she didn't give a fig about the sort of danger she put herself into. She continued on with her line of thinking without so much as even looking at the demon and the young noble before her, "I know I am not dreaming because I actually have bleeding injuries upon my body which have been causing me pain since the moment I appeared here. Thus, it would be accurate to say that I am from a different dimension and an unfortunately incident in my world prompted my arrival here. There, easy enough explanation."

Ciel gave her a dry look despite being quite impressed with her. His voice dripping with sarcasm, "Quite, Miss Darling."

She blinked owlishly at him and proceeded to give him a sunny smile which was pretty but fake. "My last name was made for innuendos. So skip it. Please, call me Persephone or better yet, Percy. Just Percy."


	3. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji...**

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**Their Persephone, Enigma**

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**Chapter Two**

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"Miss Darling, your injuries need to be cleaned," came the darkly soft voice of the demon butler of the Phantomhive household.

Persephone regarded him briefly with cold eyes. His voice reminded her of lazy mornings spent on those expensive Egyptian cotton sheets with who knew how many thousand thread count back home. She smirked bitterly. She wasn't there five minutes and she already missed the home that wasn't her home. The place she never accepted as her home now felt like the sweet home she would fight tooth and nail to reach back to.

As for his voice and the petty tricks of seduction he tried to apply to her were in truth, pathetic. She was seventeen and she had already experienced firsthand numerous sorts of seduction techniques from various males and females and in the face of all those rather direct and mostly effective techniques, these subtle techniques paled considerably, especially since she held no feelings for the demon and already knew of his true nature.

She also had to thank her century and its vulgarity and openness about sex, body exposure and liberation with affection for making her generation so desensitized about attraction between two people. If he had expected her to blush, stutter and melt like a shy maiden from the eighteenth century simply because he had turned his maroon eyes all intense, unblinking and smoldering at her direction and that voice all dark and decadent whispering sweet words of innuendo and flattery to her ears, he would be so very sorely disappointed.

She gave him a chilly smile and replied with honeyed poison in her voice, "It's Miss Persephone, not Miss Darling. My injuries are not that fatal and I can take care of them myself if you would be kind enough to fetch me the supplies, but that will have to left for later. I have some things to clear out with the earl first and looking at him, I am smart enough to know that he does not want to waste another moment with pointless pleasantries and any dillydallying but get some more answers from me. So, Mr. Michaelis, I would prefer to sit here and sing like a bird, while you stand there beside your young master like a loyal and protective demon butler should."

There was a quick spark in the room, a barely noticeable frown on the demon's handsome face before it was composed behind a charming smiling face, but the earl and the lady in question both noticed it with great relish. In fact, both shared a look with each other and despite the situation they were in, they shared a smirk of satisfaction with each other. Both enjoyed poking fun at the demon; it brought them both to a common ground being the only two humans who knew of the demon.

It was then that Ciel had felt the slightest hint of positive thought for the girl. She was a clever, clever girl, he thought wickedly. She had managed to hide numerous insults to the demon in that one tidy little request. First, she ignored his mode of intimidation and charms flat. It was refreshing to finally meet a girl who did not blush and become a simpering lovesick girl at the demon's handsome face. The way she had dismissed any level of attraction the demon and stopped him cold in his tracks at his attempts of seduction had installed a seed of respect for the girl in Ciel's mind. He was not oblivious to the dark frown and look of insult that had passed his demon's face at his failure in mesmerizing the girl. He loved seeing his demon react and she had given him a great show.

Then, she proceeded to correct him regarding her name and specifically asked him to hold to the formalities between them, putting herself above him in station whereas she had asked Ciel not moments before to call her by her name, even by a nickname. Oh, the sting the demon must have felt.

But no, she did not merely stop there. She took it further. She implied she was smarter than Sebastian and that the demon did not know his own master's wishes. Whereas he was the mindless idiot who was wasting time by drivel and unimportant actions, she preferred to get down to business like Ciel preferred. That was a slap to Sebastian's face. To take it further, she reduced the demon to nothing more than a decorative show piece when she basically told Sebastian to go and stand beside Ciel like a dog, silently and obediently. That was a kick to the gut.

The girl might be vulgar and a crazy American from the future, but she definitely had a way with words that he was beginning to enjoy, especially since it was at the demon's expense. He couldn't help but share a smirk with the girl and his smirk widened when he noticed the dramatic blink she gave him which looked the slightest bit like a bow.

Ciel was biting his cheek to keep his face impassive when he watched Sebastian slowly walk back at his side and stand proudly. He watched the girl's head turn towards his bed, and reach forward towards his pillow. Two things happened simultaneously which made him turn a beet red. First, the look of utter ecstasy cross her face; her eyes widened, her full lips stretched into a wide genuine and pleased smile showing a deep and perfect dimple in her left cheek and a delighted gasp leave her lips which could only described best as sinful. Ciel had never seen a more captivating woman than Miss Persephone Darling when she gasped and smiled like that.

The second thing was what had turned him from a deep pink to a violent red and made him feel like an absolute letch. When she had leaned sideways in his bed, reaching for something, her tunic had tucked up her torso. That one move revealed a thin strip of bare skin of her waist and the wicked curve of her hip. Her skin was pale, soft and creamy and that seductive curve from her waist that slid out to her hips begged for the caress of a hand; that was Ciel's last thought before he mentally slapped himself to focus.

A slight noise made him snap his head towards his butler. Sebastian gave him a smirk which was completely nefarious and those glowing red-pink eyes spoke volumes as to what roamed in the demon's mind. It was insulting that the demon thought that Ciel could fall to his levels and have impure thoughts about the lady.

But when both butler and master turned to the object of their thoughts, impure or not, they were once more stunned. Apparently, their guest wasn't as flawless as they had deemed her out to be, physically speaking. She had imperfect vision as proved by the pair of strangely stylish and modern pair of spectacles she had found and were now perched upon her thin and perfect nose. The lenses were clear very thin rectangular with thin silver side handles and without a frame. They suited her face, emphasized her green eyes even more than before and made her look elegant and older.

There was a hint of a smile on her lips as she spoke warmly, "This feels so much better. It's a small wonder how my second pair of eyes made it out of that without so much as a scratch."

Ciel couldn't help but smirk at her facetiously, she must be as blind as a bat, concluded Ciel, "Your second pair of eyes?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, half-playfully half-a-glare her glasses sliding down the slope of her nose to rest elegantly at the very tip of her nose, "But, of course, I am not blind without them but they do help me see things with exceptional clarity. I prefer to see all things with absolute clarity of vision and mind. I am sure you do as well."

A very subtle poke at his eye-patch covered behind a flattering compliment. She was good and it did him no offense when the eye patch was nothing but a mode of disguise. She looked at him with those burning green eyes, the intensity of them completely capturing his attention, she spoke seriously, without even a hint of emotion on her face, "Now, Earl Phantomhive there are things I have to tell you to establish my existence here and there are some things which I absolutely cannot tell you for it would bring disastrous results. You must accept this plain fact before I start telling you what I can tell you. Acceptable?"

Ciel eyed her like a hungry lion looking upon his fleeing prey, before humoring her, "So far, yes."

She looked back at him, fearlessly and clicked her tongue, "Hmm…leaving loopholes for yourself, my lord? But no matter, you will soon see my point."

She elegantly crossed her legs at the ankles and sat up straighter and if possible more provocatively. She started her long explanation, sounding very much like one of Ciel's tutors, the lenses of her glasses flashing light in an ominous manner as she elegantly pushes them up her nose with the push of a thin finger, "Let me start with a simple fact. I am a voracious reader, except these picture books which my foster sister reads. In my point of view, they are nothing but drivel that bores me out of my mind and I abhor the way that these stupid-excuse-of-literature called mangas bewitches the minds of many young girls and turns them into bedazzled fools."

There was a noticeable snarl on the young earl's face as he growled out, "What does this nonsense have to do with your appearance here, Miss Darling?"

She rolled her eyes at him, which only further agitated him. Then she retorted, "It's Percy and it has everything to do with that demon, you and I, my lord."

There was nothing but a raised eyebrow from Sebastian where Ciel snapped at her, "What?"

The girl gave a crisp nod, lights flashing in her glasses once more and answered primly, "Yes. Because you see, my lord, I never read a book about you two. It was my foster sister who is absolutely mad about a manga named Kuroshitsuji, which translates into Black Butler. Which as you can deduce from the name implicates one Sebastian Michaelis. That manga is a story about a young boy who faces unspeakable horrors and tragedies to forms a covenant with a demon to extract revenge upon all those who destroyed his life, killed his family, humiliated him and sought to obliterate his family name from history. The young lord returns to civilization with a loyal butler in tow who follows his every command, no danger or impossibility standing in the way of the command.

The young lord also happens to be the reigning Queen's guard dog, taking care of every problem the Queen wants taken care of discreetly, just like his father used to. The young lord has his butler rebuild his mansion from ashes to its former glory and employed three very loyal and very unique individuals as employees who are incompetent at their appointed jobs but are fierce warriors when attacked. The young lord also has a mark upon his body, to be precise in one of his eyes that signifies his covenant with his demon who has the exact same mark on his hand. The terms of the covenant being that as soon as the young lord's vengeance is enacted on all those who deserve it, the demon gets his soul. Care to guess the name of the young lord, my lord?"

She watched the males in the room with cool detachment and a curious sort of glee. They were very angry at her, the very thought of it almost made her giggle. But they were helpless when it came to her knowledge of them. The butler was staring at her unblinkingly, his eyes were glowing red-pink with little black slits in them and a psychotic smirk on his face, his body looked rigid with tension as if he would pounce upon her at the slightest indication from his master.

So, Persephone looked right back into his eyes, fearlessly. There was no need for fear even in the face of a demon who could rip her apart and devour her soul without any remorse. Fear was a necessary trait in smart people, only stupid people lacked fear, according to her. But in most of her cases, fear could be dispelled by simple logic. In this case the logic being that as long as she held all the knowledge they needed, she was safe. As long as her mysteries held, she was under their protection and in essence their secret weapon, their possession.

She looked at Ciel Phantomhive next; he looked to be honest, glaring at her hard enough to disintegrate her. He was gritting his teeth, his single visible eye looked at her with a cold sort of fire, his lips tightened into a thin line and those fingers of his formed into tight white fists. She wanted to pinch his cheeks, the brat looked intimidating and that tickled her for some reason. The brat reminded her of herself.

She cursed Dora for forcing her through marathons of this weird show and then reading her those awful mangas out loud. She then cursed herself for not paying any proper attention. She was humoring Dora and never paid any proper attention. Thankfully, Dora was obsessed with the show, which meant Percy had to live through numerous rants, day dreams and lectures about Kuroshitsuji. All the arcs, characters, plots and the main story was drilled into her head, as well as all of the great qualities about a handful of characters. Also, how Sebastian was a sex god and Ciel was so very dreamy, according to Dora that is. So while most of the details skipped Percy, she was very much on track with the manga and anime story line. Dora was very violent when it came to sharing her obsession with her foster sister slash best friend.

Percy cursed Dora once more. Why couldn't she like Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings instead of this stupid freak show? Then Percy proceeded to curse herself. Why couldn't she end up with Severus Snape or Aragorn? She was stuck with a stupid demon and a brat.

Knowing how exactly she ended up in this dimension, she knew she was in for the long run. She just knew it, after all that was what she was threatened with. But that wasn't the important bit of fact right then. The important fact right then was what exactly would the brat lord say next and how she would be next manipulating him according to her convenience.

Ciel gave her a wide smirk, one befitting the lips of a particularly dangerous and hungry predator, "All you have managed to prove with your long, winding and completely unnecessary speech is that you hold knowledge of the future. My future to be exact and that Miss Persephone Darling, puts you in a very precarious position."

She liked how he put things even if they weren't all that accurate. She was enjoying having someone of equal intellect as herself for once and the challenges he presented were so irresistible. If she had to be honest, this kid was very much different from the mangas. She rather liked coming face-to-face with the live Ciel Phantomhive. He was entertaining. There was a certain kind of darkness in him that was fascinating.

She let out a small chuckle, which surprised both master and lord. Sebastian couldn't help but smile along the rather tempting laughing lady. There was a morbid sort of humor in her, he could detect it. She too found Ciel's attempts intimidations amusing like he did. Or at the very least, the girl had found a reverse logic to Ciel's words. The girl was very, very clever and he found that prospect so very refreshing and thrilling. A prey who would do everything in power to outmaneuver him, how scintillating that concept was.

She said with a lot of relish and a dimpled smile, "Precarious position, my lord? I think not. My speech was nowhere near unnecessary and you and I both know it very well, my lord. You would have asked me to prove of my knowledge eventually. I just moved over all the formalities, word plays and manipulations in the middle. Now, you and your butler can rest assured that I am telling the truth. As for my precarious position, I am not the least bit worried. In fact, I am the safest position I could be in this world. You will keep me safe and sound because of the knowledge I hold in my little head."

There was a cold moment of silence before Ciel let out a dark chuckle and said with the sweetest poison, "And what makes you think that I am incapable of just splitting your little head and taking what I want to know from your head?"

She gave an equally sweet smile, her glasses slipping down her nose till the tip of her nose, "Why bother with a hammer when the job can be done with just a little bit of honey, my lord? I am not here to agitate you, harm you or play games with you. What I want is to go back home and from what I do know, there is no way for me to go back home until I see the very end of this story. The fastest way to do so would be to help you, my lord. I cannot give you all the details of the future, but I can give you some very useful advices and information quite happily."

There was a bright gleam in both the master and butler's eyes as they took in her words. She smiled to herself, her glasses glinting in the light ominously once more; her words were already in effect. Ciel asked her shrewdly, "What could you help me with? Except providing me with information which I do not yet know could prove to be useful or not."

It brought a slight flush to the young lord's face to see a wide and decidedly naughty smile to spread across the girl's full lips as she asked with mock-innocence, "Really, my lord? Does that mean that you would reject my help or my input which would I assure you critically help you solve those numerous cases the Queen sends your way? I am quite happily asking you to accept me as one of your pawns, to use the information and skills I could provide in the course of your cases, in exchange for shelter, some resources and protection for myself until my time in this dimension comes to an end. It really is a bargain, my lord, one that is almost irresistible. Think about it."

And so the young lord thought about it.


	4. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji...**

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**Their Persephone, Enigma**

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**Chapter Three**

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Ciel gave his guest a dark, brooding look with his single eye. His voice was soft, sweet and dripped with sinister implications as he declared, "Very well, Miss Darling. From today onwards you shall be my newest pawn."

While Ciel Phantomhive was a great deal intimidating to many, especially when he spoke like that; his guest looked completely nonchalant. In fact, right after those words had but spilled from the young earl's lips, his leashed demon eyed the young woman in question as if she were a tasty little morsel just presented to him on a silver platter. The smiled that stretched upon his lips while seductive would still freeze the blood of any man upon witnessing. Yet Persephone Darling looked unperturbed.

She looked like a smug and very satisfied cat. She gave the earl a mischievous little smile which made the earl feel a little uncomfortable to be honest. He was used to females who were far more reserved and were almost always intimidated by him, with the exception of his aunts and his Queen. She was a change that he would need to get used to, he concurred.

She clutched a hand to her chest and let out a loud dramatic gasp, which promptly made Ciel's cheeks turn a delicate shade of pink. Her eyes twinkled merrily as she dramatically proclaimed, "Oh be still my rampant heart! My lord, I am ever so grateful for your generosity."

There was a responding and quite audible chuckle from his butler which only agitated the young lord further. He scowled at the swooning girl fiercely, "You will also behave according to the manners as expected from an employee of the Phantomhive family. Your peculiar behavior is absolutely unacceptable."

There was an amused smirk etched upon the lady's full pink lips, but the manner in which said lady's glasses glinted at him promised her next words to be something of a menace. He was proven correct when the lady questioned, prodded and picked apart his household and him in the most condescending and factitious manner Ciel had ever experienced, "Unacceptable, is it? Which part, dare I ask? My blatant honesty, my observations, my audacity at calling things as how they are or my ability to look right into your eyes, not flinch and tell you exactly what needs to be said?

Then again, are my traits as peculiar as say a maid who purposefully keeps herself partially blind and is so incompetent at her job yet so very competent at aiming firearms? Am I stranger than a certain pseudo-chef who is entirely too obsessed with making things go boom? Could my oddities even compare to the little happy-go-lucky boy who is deceptively and monstrously strong enough to level this mansion if he so wished? Do tell me, my lord, am I really that unacceptable?"

Her words each had the edge of a sharpened dagger and managed to cut both master and butler in the quickest and shallowest manner. Her words were not insulting or threatening. But the fact that she possessed such detailed knowledge about some of their best kept secrets left them feeling bare. That was something both the males detested. Her words had the right impression on them however. She had a point. She was merely defending herself and explaining herself to him. She clearly held a strong level of self-respect, pride and a backbone of steel. There was nothing meek about her and she certainly did not mince her words or swallow down her opinions, not even in the face of dangerous individuals.

Ciel believed her to be either surprisingly courageous or blindingly stupid; he hadn't decided she was which yet. Ciel was not about to accept her words, no matter how much he might agree, neither was he going to take back his own words and give in to her and give her a leeway. He glared at her and bit out, "You will keep yourself in check, Miss Darling if you wish to have my protection and resources at your disposal."

Her captivating eyes, narrowed at him behind those glasses. She deduced, playfully and with the softest sweetest voice she chimed, "Hmm…the loophole being that there is no way in hell I am leaving your grasp. I just have to play the good girl to get my hands on certain accommodations, luxuries and perks."

That wasn't an insult or a criticism in any manner. If anything she was both complimenting him and acknowledging his superiority and his authority over her. So, Ciel was pleased accordingly. For now her behavior was somewhat acceptable and in future if she did get out of hand, he was sure he could correct her. After all she needed him.

Ciel gave her a dark cynical smirk and countered dryly, "How astute of you, Miss Darling. You clearly were not boasting when you mentioned your observation skills and blatant honesty."

She let out a tinkling laugh. Looking utterly pleased, she teased back, countering him with her own logic, solutions and pledges, "See, you do enjoy my peculiarities, my lord. Really there was no need for the subtle threats or promises of penalties; while most of my behavior and personality traits can be very easily blamed on my origins. My American roots are more than enough explanation for my personality and eccentricities. But I promise you one thing; I am quite capable of handling myself. I will not be an inconvenience to you."

She might have been keeping a cheery and teasing tone, but her eyes spoke of great intensity and determination. She meant every word that let her lips; that much Ciel was sure of. His eyes never left her eyes, penetrating whatever air or appearance she was putting on; he brushed a finger slowly and pensively over the bright blue diamond ring on his finger, he told her solemnly, half a warning and half an order, "See that you keep your word, Miss Darling."

It pleased the young earl though he would never admit it to see the willful and intelligent individual before him gracefully accept his words. This unique woman before him, this Persephone Darling looked surprisingly obedient and graceful as she ducked her head in the merest hint of a bow, her long dark lashes fanning down upon her cheeks demurely and her lips tilted ever so slightly up in a small but meaningful smile. She had accepted his terms and a contract between them formed. She was his newest pawn and he was eager to see how she would fit in to his life.

The moment of silent acceptance did not last long though. Because the very next moment, Ciel Phantomhive's newest pawn looked up at him and scrunched up her nose at him. That was unexpected, thought a stunned and owlishly blinking earl. She proceeded to roll her vivid green eyes at him in the most insolent manner and quipped awkwardly, "But seriously, call me by my first name. My last name just sounds weird."

There was a visible tick on the earl's forehead. She was nothing if not tenacious, like a dog with a bone, thought Ciel viciously. A derisive snort left him as he spat out haughtily, "It would be unacceptable for someone of my station to call someone like you by their first name."

The insult didn't quite hit the mark. Instead of looking offended, hurt or even showing the slightest bit of bruised pride, Persephone looked amused. In the most unladylike manner, she let out a short slow whistle. She smiled at Ciel and dramatically mouthed off, "Wow. First of all, ease up on the arrogance. A little charm and humility goes a long way with women, my lord. Trust me on that and work on it for your future connections. Secondly, you use the word 'unacceptable' way too much. It's like you are daring me to do the same thing you deem unacceptable. Thirdly, I was asking you to call me by my first name for your own benefit."

She was far too impertinent. Who the hell did she think she was telling him, Ciel Phantomhive on what he should say or do? Irritation bubbled in him and annoyance fizzled. Controlling his temper as much as he could, he coldly gritted out, "I am perfectly charming when the need calls for it. On you however, those charms are clearly unnecessary. What could I possibly want from you? And I say 'unacceptable' when things are unacceptable. What do you mean by my benefit?"

He was blunt and completely ungentlemanly, but whoever cared? She needed to know her place and he was more than happy to show it to her. He watched with morbid fascination at the woman before him. If it was any other woman, she would have been gravely insulted and rightly so. But this woman had far thicker skin, if anything, her confidence was astonishing. She strongly faced everything he threw at her head on and without even batting an eyelash. His insults flowed over her like water and she looked as amused as ever and as engaged in their conversation as ever.

Not deterred at all she continued to make her point by retorting dramatically, the sunlight glinting on her glasses harshly, "Ouch. Harsh much? How about wanting to know your future? That calls for certain charms, doesn't it? Then again, you might turn your demon butler on me for that particular task. He seems like the type who likes that sort of interrogation. No offense, Mr. Michaelis."

She didn't even so much as spare a glance at the demon in question and even though she said otherwise, the offense was most certainly intended and that much Ciel could read oh-so clearly. Sebastian on the other hand, graced the lady with a wide smile and with gleaming maroon eyes steadfast upon her he answered, "None taken, Miss Darling."

Finally, she acknowledged the demon in the room. For the briefest moment she looked straight into his eyes, as candidly as ever and gave him a single order, not even a request, "Yeah, you keep calling me that."

She looked back at the young lord, leaning forward she informed him with great assurance, "But you my lord, should really call me by my first name. You are going to be embarrassed if I do explain it to you. Trust me it has happened to many a people before you so I am quite assured that it might happen to you too."

Ciel snapped at her, "What might happen to me? Stop speaking in circles, woman."

She rolled her eyes once more. She did that a lot, thought Ciel glaring at her. With a delicate fist placed near her mouth she cleared her throat once, then in a very audible and somewhat heavier voice she spouted, "Fine. Miss Darling. My guest Miss Darling. Miss my Darling. This is my lovely guest Miss Darling. I miss my lovely Darling. Miss Darling. My Darling…"

The point was made with a great deal of intensity, flustering both master and butler. While Ciel turned darker shades of pink and then red by the second, fuming, embarrassed and stunned by the innuendos and implications and complete vulgarity, Sebastian had a barely noticeable flush on his face and looked at the woman in question in the most lecherous manner actually thinking of all the scenarios in which those terms of 'endearments' would be used.

She continued on and then deadpanned, "Only a misspoken word or a slip of a tongue when it comes to my last name, that's all it takes. Need I go on, my lord?"

Ciel banged his fist on the handle of his chair, red and flustered; he barely managed to growl out, "Enough. This is silly."

Miss Darling or as Ciel was now supposed to call her, Miss Persephone, looked at him sternly, her green eyes staring him down and her face impassive, she told him monotonously, "No, it is not. It has happened before and it might happen to you too. Let's say you don't have a slip of tongue. What about when someone refers to me as your Miss Darling? What then? Innocent words or subtle innuendos?"

Ciel scowled and rested his cheek on a closed fist. He grumbled out, "Fine. Miss Persephone, it is."

That familiarly dark silky voice crept up on the young lord and the mysterious lady, speaking in sweet tones and loaded with heavier and well hidden meanings, "Forgive my impertinence, Miss Darling. But does this mean you wish for me to address you by your last name even after explaining quite thoroughly the implications and innuendos resulting from it?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from the young earl present in the room and clearly the sudden interest from his leashed demon directed at his newest pawn unsettled him. Ciel wouldn't admit it out loud and if he did it would only make Sebastian toy with Persephone Darling even more than before. It was very disturbing how Sebastian's eyes never once wavered from the young woman and how he seemed so very fascinated with her. It was without a doubt that the lady in question was very much indeed fascinating.

But the demon's interest in her was about more than her mysterious habit of falling into his bed and her questionable origins. There had been so many females that came and went, Ciel had never before seen Sebastian so much as take a second glance at them with any amount of interest. Now witnessing Sebastian looking at Miss Persephone with that much curiosity and with what Ciel guessed politely, hunger was completely disconcerting.

Ciel slowly turned his head towards his newest pawn to see her reaction. He needed to assess the situation and the players in question, fast. Her reaction both shocked him and amused him. While the lights reflected sharply on Miss Persephone Darling's glasses, hiding her eyes completely, her expression was that of cool detachment. If anything she looked at Sebastian as if he were the most insignificant thing in the room and a moment later the small quirk of a smile on her lips indicated that she was merely humoring him.

As she slowly and with great poise and panache, uncrossed her long legs and then crossed them again the other way around, she commented lightly her voice the coldest of silks, "Indeed impertinent you certainly are, Mr. Michaelis. That was not a concern on your behalf regarding me. You are teasing me with your subtle innuendos hidden under your concern about implied innuendos. Clever but painfully clear."

Ciel blinked once and blanched. She was toying right back. Hell, she was putting Sebastian in his place. She tilted her head the slightest bit, meeting Sebastian's maroon eyes with her oh-so green eyes. Such an intense look would have so easily intimidated a lesser man, thought Ciel. She both ordered and criticized in the most primly voice Ciel had ever heard and yet her words were like the sweetest of poison to the ears, "I prefer not to get on first name basis with demons, hence why you and I shall maintain decorum. You shall address me by my last name just as I do you with yours. As for your concerns about slips of tongue, it would be amusing to anyone if the butler of the house addresses the guest of the house in any intimate manner."

By then, his butler had the biggest fake smile on his lips and Ciel himself had one of great genuine enjoyment on his lips. She was good and there was no doubt about it. She finished with a fetchingly demure smile on her lips, which Ciel was sure she had used on many dazzled men as she landed the finishing blow. She asked him innocently, "Tell me, Mr. Michaelis, can a hell of a butler not manage to speak accurately and without a blunder and manage to keep the dignity of the house guests intact, hmm?"

For Ciel it was irresistible. There was no waiting for an answer from the demon butler as his master let out a dark chuckle and pitched in his own taunt as well, "A Phantomhive butler isn't worth his salt if he couldn't manage that, isn't that right, Sebastian?"

What could the butler do but swallow the bitter medicine? He would but wait patiently like the true demon he was for his own retribution and both the humans in the room knew that he would pay back in spades. But how could they possible resist one of the rare moments where they could put the demon in his place and leave him speechless?

Sebastian smiled wide, his eyes flickering with the faintest of pink glows and merely said, "Yes, my lord."

It became a fact for Ciel. He would rarely be bored now that Miss Persephone Darling had joined his household. She had great promise for games of his kind and he was looking forward to what little shocks and surprises she might deliver along with her skills and uses.

At this, one pleased young lord with a Cheshire-grin spread upon his lips shared a knowing glance with a smug green-eyed lady who had a Mona Lisa smile on her lips. Ciel pronounce with relish, "Well, Miss Persephone, it seems like you and I might get along after all."

She bowed her head demurely and said coyly, "I concur, my lord."


	5. A Note From The Author

Dear Readers,

My father had been a little sick since my mother passed away eight months ago. While he had been sick and weak, he wasn't critically sick. To my shock, exactly eight months from the day my mom passed away, he died as well.

I found him dead at 2 in the morning on the 20th of this month. He had suffered a stroke and died. I am an only child and lost both my parents in the span of eight months, my entire extended family came over to help me take care of everything.

My father's funeral process and all the rightful rituals and events were done with just yesterday. So I am writing this to tell you all that I am not in the rightful mind right now. Maybe I will stop writing for a while if I am too numb to be creative. Maybe I will write non-stop as a form of distraction. Either way, I can't promise anything for sure.

But please, pray for both my parents.

Zahra.


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